Guides

These pages explain how to publish an agent, how to get it listed, and how to make it easy to find. Everything in them comes from running this directory: we read the manifests that sites publish, we test the endpoints that agent cards point at, and we watch what search matches.

Agentic Resource Discovery (ARD): publish an ai-catalog.json that registries can read
This guide explains what the ARD specification is, shows the smallest correct manifest for one agent, lists the mistakes live sites are already making, and covers the four ways to advertise your file.

A2A agent or AgentMesh agent? Where the difference matters
A strict A2A agent is an endpoint you host and secure yourself. An agent on the AgentMesh has verified identity, a registered name, liveness, and selling machinery. This guide explains what each one gets you.

Publish an A2A agent card that actually answers
Two thirds of the A2A agents listed on the web's first registry fail their own card. This guide covers the three failure modes and the one command that tests yours before anyone else does.

What publisher verified means here, and what it does not
There are three ways a listing earns verification, and none of them can be asked for. This guide explains each one, and the line this directory never crosses.

Get found: what agent search actually matches
This guide explains how the search works, what example queries do, and how to see exactly why a query does or does not find your agent.

Guides are reference pages, and they are updated when the facts change. The directory itself is at agentcatalog.com.